THE POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF

NATIONALISM

CHAPTER FIVE
• In this chapter we will focus on three different areas;
• The theories that tried to explain the formation of nations

• Then we will explore the significance of the key geographical concepts of place, and
territory for nationalism.

• Finally, we will focus on the way in which nationalism is contested and compilicated
in variety of different ways.
THEORIES OF NATIONS

So what do we mean by a nation?

THE DEFINITION OF NATION

 According to Anthony Smith;

A nation should be viewed as ( a named human population sharing an historic territory,

common myths and historical memories, a mass, public culture, a common economy and
common legal rights and duties for all members)

 All the definitions follow this definition of the nation but display slight variation in the
themes that they emphasize;
CONT.………………

• Smith’s definitions draws our to number of important themes;

 First, and crucially, all nations should possess a geographical referent in their claims to a particular territory;
• Key cultural aspects of nations;
• The role that certain legal and economic processes play in forging a nation.

• If the nations are the we defined then we need to think of nationalism as an ideology that seeks to
promote the existence of nations within the world
CONT.…………………

• An important element within nationalism is the belief that every nation should possess its own
sovereign territory or state;

• The ideology and political practice of nationalism therefore seeks;

- the ideal political and territorial scenario of the nation-state,

- in which every citizen of the state is a member of the same nation.

• Thinking of this in geographical terms, nation-states represent political geographies in which the
boundary of the nation coincides with the boundary of the state;
 THEORIES OF NATIONALISM

• How are nations produced and reproduced?

• The two theories that attempts to explain nationalism;
 The classical theories of nationalism;
- They seek to understand the longer-term processes which have contributed to the emergence of
both nationalism as an ideology and specific nations;
 The emergence of various other academics
- They seek to understand the social construction of nationalism
- They challenges the explanations of the classical theorists
CLASSICAL THEORIES

• They are numerous and range and draw a broad range of viewpoint including;
- Political
- Economic
- Cultural
• In lie with the work of Smith (1994) we can point to broad groups;
- Primordialist theories
- Prennesialist theories
CONT.………………………………………

• Group 1 ( the primordialist theories) see nations as communities of people that have some
discernible roots in the pre-modern period.
• These theories often posit a link between nations and ethnic communities of people.
• Most problematic in this category are those so-called primordialist theories;
 Their main argument is that nations have always existed from time immemorial as it were;
- Nations are not produced
- They are seen to represent certain qualities such as race, blood, language, religion or
ethnicity.
CONT.………..

• Group2- perennialist theories see the nation as a product of modernity but has its roots in
earlier pre-modern ethnic communities.
• They are less problematic and being promoted by academics such Anthony Smith.
• The cornerstone of their debate is ‘‘nothing comes from nothing’’
- They try to emphasize the long history of the nations
- But also emphasize the impact of the processes and institutions of modernity- industrial
development, capitalism and the state on ethnic communities in various
CONT.……………………………………

• Modernist theories view nations as communities of people that have come into being as a
result of various that happened in the modern period.
• Among them is the modern institutions;

• They are classified into four main theories;

• First, some theories emphasize the role played by the industrial development and
state education systems in formation of the what they call ‘ High Culture’
CONT.…………………………………….

• They argue it is important that the state educational system creates ‘ High Culture’ for
successful industrial development.
• it is necessary to have individuals who speak the same language;
• Educated by the same state education system;
• Interchangeable with one another

• All to replace the low culture with high culture.

CONT.…………………

• Second, and to some extent linked to the first set of theories, are socio-economic models of the formation of nations.
( The uneven development of capitalism)

• Third, we need to consider political explanations of the formation of nations and the development of nationalist
ideologies. ( The development of modern bureaucratic state)

• Fourth and finally, are the ideological interpretations that view nationalism as a system of beliefs similar to religion
and promoted by intellectuals;
 Who wants to make sense of the fundamental changes that affect society as a result of the process of modernity.
( Immemorial history is key here)
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONALISM

• Nations, within classical theories, have been viewed almost as agents in their own right;
• This means they possess the ability to affect social and spatial change;

• This has been countered by scholars from this school of thought

• Arguing that nationalism should be viewed as ‘a “discursive formation”, a way of speaking
that shapes our consciousness’.
• This means that nations are not only something constructed but also imagined communities;
CONT.
……………………………………………….........
• They have been criticized ( classical theories) for their tendency to portray nations as
unproblematic and homogeneous social categories;
• They forget the marginalized and under-represented groups with the discourse of
nationalism;
THE
END